woman den go on, 'If you want one soul, Massa Debil, take dis here,' pointing to her serbant; 'she been much more wicked nor me.' Den de serbant she set up awful shriek, and I says, 'Dis time I hab pity on you, nex time I come, if you not good I carry you bofe away. But must take soul away to big debil, else he neber forgib me. Dere, I will carry off soul of little pig. Gib it me.' De serbant she gives cry ob joy, jump up, seize little pig, and berry much afraid, bring him to window. Before I take him I say to old missus, 'Dis a free gibt on your part?' and she say, 'Oh, yes, oh, yes, good Massa Debil, you can take dem all if you like.' I say, 'No; only oneand now me gib you bit advice. My Massa down below hear you very bad ole women, never gib noting to de poor, berry hard, berry bad. Me advise you change your conduct, or, as sure as eggs is eggs, he send me up again for you no time.' Den I gave two great 'Yah! yah's!' again berry loud, and showed de white ob my eye, and dey went down on to knees again, and I go quietly round corner ob house, and walk home wid de pig which was giben to me. Noting like stealing about dat, Massa Manley, sar!"

Sam's story was received with roars of laughter, and when they had recovered themselves a little, Captain Manley said, "It is lucky we march to-morrow, Sam, for if the good woman were to catch a glimpse of you in uniform, and were to find she had been tricked, she might lay a complaint against you, and although, as you say, the pig was freely given to you, I imagine the Provost Marshal might consider that it was obtained under false pretences. But here are the other men outside, we had better adjourn, for every one is longing to hear your adventures."

It was a lovely evening, and as the officers of the Norfolk Rangers sat or lay round the fire, which was lit for light and

cheerfulness rather than warmth, the boys, after their long wanderings among strangers, felt how pleasant and bright life was among friends and comrades. They had first to relate their adventures with the guerillas, after which it was agreed that they had earned the right to be silent for the rest of the evening, and song, and jest, and merry story went round the ring.

Sam was installed under the direction of the doctor, a jovial Irishman, as concocter of punch, and his office was by no means a sinecure.

"Now, major, give us the song of the regiment," Captain Manley said, and, as he spoke, there was a general cry round the circle of "The Rangers, the Rangers." "I'm agreeable," the major said. "Give me another tumbler of punch to get my pipes in order. Make it a little sweeter than the last brew, Sam; yes, that's better. Well, here goes-full chorus, and no shirking."

THE RANGERS.

"Hurrah for the Rangers, hurrah! hurrah!

Here's to the corps that we love so well;

Ever the first in the deadly fray,

Steady and firm amid shot and shell.
Scatter'd as skirmishers out in the front,
Contesting each foot of the ground we hold,
Nor yielding a step though we bear the brunt
Of the first attack of the foemen bold.

Hurrah for the Rangers, hurrah! hurrah!
Here's to the corps that we love so well;
Ever the first in the deadly fray,
Steady and firm amid shot and shell.

"Steady boys, steady, the foe falls back,
Sullenly back to the beat of the drum,
Hark to the thunder that nears our flank,
Rally in square, boys, their cavalry come.

Squadron on squadron, wave upon wave,

Dashing along with an ocean's force,

But they break into spray on our bayonets' points,
And we mock at the fury of rider and horse.
Hurrah for the Rangers, &c.

"The gunner may boast of the death he deals

As he shatters the foe with his iron hail,

And may laugh with pride as he checks the charge,
Or sees the dark column falter and quail.

But the gunner fights with the foe afar,

In the rear of the line is the battery's place,
The Ranger fights with a sterner joy

For he strives with his foeman face to face.
Hurrah for the Rangers, &c.

"The cavalry man is dashing and gay,
His steed is fast, and his blade is fine,
He blithely rides to the fiercest fray,
And cuts his way through the foeman's line.
But the wild, fierce joy of the deadly breach,

Or the patient pluck of the serried square

Are far away from the horseman's reach,

While the Norfolk Rangers are sure to be there.
Hurrah for the Rangers, &c."

Long, loud, and hearty was the cheering as the last chorus concluded. "Very good song, very well sung, jolly companions every one," shouted the doctor. "Now, Manley, keep the ball rolling, give us the 'The Bivouac.'" Captain Manley emptied his glass, and, without hesitation, began

THE BIVOUAC.

"The weary march is over, boys, the camp fire's burning bright,
So gather round the blazing logs, we'll keep high feast to-night,

For every heart is full of joy, and every cheek aglow,
That after months of waiting, at last we meet the foe,

To-morrow's sun will see the fight, and ere that sun goes down,
Our glorious flag another wreath of victory shall crown.

Hurrah, hurrah for the bivouac,
With comrades tried and true,
With faces bright, and spirits light
And the foemen's fires in view.

"Then fill your cups with Spanish wine, and let the toast go round, Here's a health to all who love us on dear old England's ground.

Be their tresses gold or auburn, or black as ebon's hue,
Be their eyes of witching hazel, loving grey, or heaven's blue,
Here's to them all, the girls we love, God bless them every one :
May we all be here to toast them when to-morrow's work is done.
Hurrah, hurrah, &c.

"But whate'er to-morrow bring us, it shall shed no gloom to-night,
For a British soldier does not flinch from thought of death in fight;
No better ending could we wish, no worthier do we know,
Than to fall for King and country, with our face towards the foe;
And if we go, our friends who stay will keep our memory bright,
And will drink to us in silence by many a camp-fire's light.

Hurrah, hurrah, &c."

When the last chorus had ceased, the boys, who had had a long march that morning, and were thoroughly tired, stole quietly off to bed, but it was not till long after they had gone to sleep that the jovial party round the fire broke up, and that Sam was relieved from his duties of concocter of punch.

CHAPTER XII.

BUSACO AND TORRES VEDRAS.

INSTEAD of pressing forward upon his invasion of Portugal, Massena prepared to besiege Almeida, and for a month the British and Portuguese army remained in their position within a few hours' march of that town. Wellington expected that Almeida would be able to resist for two months, and hoped to find some opportunity for falling suddenly upon the besiegers; but even a resistance of two months would have made it so late in the season that Massena must have postponed his invasion until the next spring.

Upon the morning of the 26th of August the French batteries opened fire, and from Guarda the dull, heavy roar of artillery could be heard all day. As darkness fell, the officers of the Rangers were, as usual, assembling round their fire, when the earth seemed to shake beneath their feet, and a flash like that of summer lightning lit the eastern sky. "What can that be?" was the general exclamation. A minute later, and a deep, heavy, prolonged roar sounded in their ears—then all was quiet.

"That is a big magazine," Captain Manley said, "and I'm afraid it's the town, for it sounded too heavy for a mere field magazine. If it be the town, you'll see it won't hold out much